Program for Public Policies

Two long term goals of the CI Program for public policies are:
  1. Creating a civil sector network in order to form a strategy and an efficient approach to a greater influence on decision-making processes.
  2. The improvement of public policies through the monitoring of state activity as an expression of respect for the rule of law, efficiency and the responsibility public administration, as well as the implementation of documents and suggestions of international institutions.


With the intention of achieving these goals, Civic Initiatives use in their work a widely developed network approach, through coordinating and participating in the functions of various domestic, regional and national networks, such as: FENS, SEKO for civil society, culture and media, House for Human Rights and Democracy, KOCD, KOMS, NAPOR, BCSDN, ECCN.

With our methodological approach we would like to, wherever possible, test in practice the changes that we advocated, or rather, to promote pilot programs and in that way check the validity of certain ideas.

As part of the avocation processes and policy development, the focus of Civic Initiatives rests on the following topics:

• An enabling environment for the development of CSOs. CI are recognized as the leading organization in this field, and they work on it mostly through the development of the Matrix for monitoring the enabling environment for the development of CSOs, as well as long term monitoring conditions and activities of public representation in this field. At the same time, these data are used to monitor the progress of our country in the negotiation process, in the field of civil society relations, in accordance with the Guidelines of the General Directorate of the European Commission for Enlargement, about the support for civil society in countries that are candidates for enlargement, between 2014 and 2020. Within this field, special effort is being focused on creating a sustainable mechanism for collaboration between the state and the CSOs.

• Participatory environment for the inclusion of CSOs in providing services, with a growing number of CSOs that provide social and other services. Within this field, priority is given to placing effort on complete inclusion of CSOs into the system of social protection, as well as its monitoring, and in accordance with the pluralism of social protection service providers principle, regulated by law.

• The monitoring of the EU integration processes in Serbia and public avocation of that idea during this process.

Thanks to their activities so far, both in the EU Directorate for Enlargement and in the Council of Europe, CI are recognized as an organization which professionally, competently and responsibly, but at the same time critically commenting decisions and activities of the state in the process of accession into the EU. In collaboration with other organizations, through existing and new networks, Civic Initiatives will offer support in the process of accession into the EU in various fields. The process of monitoring EU integrations will receive special support at the local level.

• A complete reform of the educational system

CI will focus on advocating that which refers to inclusive processes for the implementation of Strategy 2020, changes and amendments to relevant laws in accordance with the Strategy, and the introduction of needed measures, regardless of the populist tendencies of the government and the ministry.

• The monitoring of policies that deal with young people and the work of national, local, umbrella bodies, in whose forming CI participated.

Youth policy, questions that concern young people and their participation remains the focus of Civic Initiatives, especially the monitoring of policies that deal with young people and the work of national, local and umbrella bodies, in whose forming CI participated.